My Natural Hair Journey

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Winters in Chicago can be brutal, so I have to make sure my hair survives the dry, brittle cold and damaging winds. I honestly don’t change much of my regimen between winter and summer, so this regimen will likely be relevant year round.

Weekly Wash Days

Protein conditioner Pre-Poo for 30 minutes with hair in 8 twists

Aphogee 2 Minute Keratin Reconstructor

Method: LAZY ALERT!!! I don’t have a steamer and I don’t build in the time to sit under my hair dryer, so I do the old fashion “run a towel under hot water in a bowl for 5-10 minutes”, method haha. I then place it on top of my shower cap and secure it with another shower cap. It’s not perfect, but I need to be able to multi-task 🙂

Shampoo with hair in 8 twists

T-Gel Medicated Shampoo

KeraCare Dry & Itchy Scalp Moisturizing Shampoo

Scalp condition side note: I have to use stronger shampoos because of a scalp condition that I have called Seborrheic Dermatitis. It’s actually quite common. Rece, a fellow blogger, is experiencing similar frustrations. My dermatologist described it as my scalp/skin producing too much yeast and becoming irritated. It’s been called the “adult cradle cap”. Anywho, it means I have to wash regularly, and so I try to wash once a week (I should wash more frequently given that I workout 6 times per week). I will admit that washing weekly definitely dries my hair out, but I’ve tried alternating between a shampoo-wash and a conditioner-wash, but of course conditioner-washes don’t help my scalp. So to relieve the itching and flaking this condition causes, I’ve been using T-Gel Shampoo. I plan to go back to my beloved KeraCare Dry & Itchy Scalp shampoo this week (super excited!). My dermatologist says she typically recommends KeraCare for African Americans, in particular naturals, since it works to restore moisture. I will keep you posted on how it works out for me.

Method: I just plop it on, focusing on the ends, but being sure every strand is completely saturated. It really does give a tingling sensation and that feels like heaven to my scalp. I use the lazy method described above – run a towel under extremely hot water for 5-10 minutes, then place on top of my shower cap and secure it with a second shower cap. Because I do this for 60 minutes, I sometimes get a fresh towel after 30 minutes.

Detangling with conditioner in hair, separating hair into 16 twists

Shower comb

Method: I start with 8 twists but end up with 16. I take down one twist and start detangling one half of that twist. My hair is pretty thick and tightly coiled so as usual the smaller the sections, the more peaceful the detangling session :).

I use a mixture of finger-detangling and wide tooth comb detangling. I start with my fingers to get the major knots and kinks out. I then only use the comb under the stream of water. I start with the ends and only stroke my hair 3-4 in total (I try to use as few strokes as possible). I realize that I can run the comb through my hair as much as I want, but given my hair’s texture, it will continue to catch on itself. So I settle for just getting the major tangles out. This takes me about 45 minutes typically.

Air Drying

Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner

Hot 6 Oil

Shea Moisture Reconstructive Elixir

Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie

Method: I wrap my 16 twists in an old t-shirt to soak up the water for 10-15 minutes. I then take down each twist, apply my moisturizing and sealing products in the below order, and retwist:

Leave-in: Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner

Oil: Hot 6 Oil -or- Shea Moisture Reconstructive Elixir

Cream: Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie

Can you tell I like Shea Moisture 🙂 I stick with them because I’ve found that my hair needs heavier products to stay moisturized.

For styling, I typically sleep in my 16 twists then do a quick protective style in the morning.

I’m afraid to say “that’s all”. It’s truly a day-long event (okay, maybe half a day), but so far it is a good compromise between my hair’s needs and my busy schedule!